


Potassium

by rainbowbeanie



Category: No Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-28 03:44:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12597384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowbeanie/pseuds/rainbowbeanie
Summary: Nina Lorna, a fifteen year old girl on the edge, has kept journals about her life for years. This is one she left to me, when she... Anyway. It's a very interesting story. Or at least, I think so. Anyway...READ!





	1. May 10th, 2017. 10:30 AM

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am the author. This is my first published story, so If you have any advice or comments or if I made a grammatical error, just let me know. Thanks you!
> 
> Also, for those of you who care, I stole the hospitals in the story from 1.Scrubs and 2. The Red Band Society.

Whats a good love story? An escape, I guess. I could use more escaping. Especially recently, since all of the shit went down. I’ve got thing thing. Cystic Fibrosis. It’s a lung thing. That’s all I really understand of it. Anyway, love stories. I can’t say I understand those either. To be honest, they kind of make me laugh. All those people falling over themselves to be with each other. As if they won’t live without each other. As if they can’t.  
It’s not possible to rely on another person for absolute survival.  
I don’t know why I’m going on and on about romance. I just needed to write about something, ya know? I’m travelling today. My mum's driving , since they didn’t require a medical transport. I'm transferring  to a new hospital. One that focuses on long-term cases like mine. It’s a bit sad, because my first day at Sacred Heart I thought I would be leaving soon. But to be honest, I’m kind of excited. Meeting new people, a new environment. And I heard that I’ll have more freedom in a facility made more for living and less for treating. Of course, I’ll still be receiving treatment. Just not ONLY receiving treatment. I can go to classes, meet up with people, exercise,eat actual food, and even go out on the town. And what is “the town”? Sunny Los Angeles. Ocean Park Hospital. Fun.  
Oh great, we’re here. I can see the place, anyway. Mum’s got special permission to use the emergency entrance, but it’s on the other side of the building. It’s a nice day out. I wish I could walk up to the building like a normal person. There’s no real risk in Cystic Fibrosis. It kills you slowly, and from the inside.  
Ocean Park Hospital is tall. It’s a big-wide building with a ton of windows. It’s not really traditional hospital. Nothing in LA is traditional.  
I like it.  
I’ve gotta go now. In a few moments, Mum will have parked, and I’ll have to get out and move all my stuff from my car to my new room. I’ll write as soon as I have a minute.


	2. May 10th, 2017. 1:30 AM

Okay.   
I’m here in my room at Ocean Park and this place is incredible. There’s a massive spiral stairwell, all white , with a skylight at the top shining down on everyone.   
I was kind of night about meeting new people. All the Doctors and Nurses I’ve met have been SUPER nice to me. My attending nurse is a woman named Larisa Li. Her name is excellently alliterated. She herself has Lupus, she told me. That’s why she’s so pale. It also makes her very empathetic to children who stay in a hospital long-term.   
My Doctor is an old but kind man. Dr.Sheppard. He told me that tomorrow we’ll start to cover my treatment plan. Today, I’ve just got to settle in. He also mentioned that a few other fifteen year olds were living here. I’ll be going to school with them, in a big all-ages classroom on the first floor. And this place has like forty floors. Well,sixteen. But they’re BIG floors. I wonder if I’ll get to meet anyone today.   
Oh, another cool thing; I’ve found the best place to write. Up on the very top floor, in the farthest back hallway. None of the rooms are in use, and there are some massive windows across from solid white walls. It’s really bright, and I’ve been here for almost half and hour and nobody’s shown up. It’s really think this will be my new writing perch. My old one at sacred heart was up at the balconies the fourth floor in an unused room.   
It was nice, but not as nice as this.   
I don’t think I’ll miss Sacred Heart. That place was nice, but I wasn’t there for so long. I wasn’t close with any of doctors or anything like that, because my mum tried to keep me home as much as possible. She’s a good sort, my mum. She’s an immigrant. She moved here from England with my dad back in the nineties, because Gram and Gramps were too uptight to let their daughter marry a black guy.   
I don’t talk to them. Ever.   
It’s nice up here. I do like it, really. I don’t like a whole lot of things, but I like this place. It’s calm.   
WAIT.   
Someone’s coming.


	3. May 10th 2017, 9:30 PM

I’m back now. Now up in my perch anymore. Back in my room. And the CRAZIEST thing just happened.  
    So there I was, up on the 16th floor, freaking the fuck out cuz I thought some doctor coming up and I’d be caught in the Act. But then the stairwell door opens, and this little girl pops out. No. Not little. Short. I find out later she’s my age, but we’re not there yet.  
    The girl stops at the end of the hallway and stairs at me. I stare back at her. Then her eyes stray to the cigarette in my hand. Quickly, I push that hand behind my back, putting the cigarette out on the sole of my shoe. She tilts her head at me, but doesn’t say anything. I avoid eye contact. After a solid minute of this, she speaks.  
    “So...Cystic Fibrosis?” I gasped.  
    “How did you know?”  
    “Stick around this place long enough, and you’ll learn to tell. “ She walked up to me, shoved her back against the wall, and slid down onto the floor besides me. “Besides, in my experience, it’s usually your type attempting suicide my nicotine.”  
    “Nicotine won’t kill you.”  
    “Nicotine won’t kill me , hun. You are a different story.” She was right. My lungs couldn’t take the added stress of smoking But hey, I’ll be gone sooner or later, right?  
    Smoking has always been double-edged sword for me. It relaxes me. Lets me calm down and chill out. I haven’t been smoking for so long. Not long enough for it to be irreversible. I could probably quit. My Doctors know, but my mom doesn’t. That’s the other edge of the sword. I go to such ridiculous lengths to keep my mom from knowing. I don’t think she could take it.  
    “Hello...hello?” The girl said, waving her hand in front of my face. I must have zoned out.  
    “Hi… hi yes.” I shook my head and looked at her.  
    “Im Chia.” She stuck out her hand. “Like the pet, except I’m a person.”  
    “I’m Nina.” I stuck my hand out.  
    “That’s boring.”  
    “What”  
    “Your name. It’s boring. Get a better one.”  
    “I can’t. I don’t get to pick my name.”  
    “Here ya do.” She grinned at me, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “The doctors will all call you whatever you want, and the others don’t have to know what your name is. I won’t tell you, so you can pick.” She smiled at me even wider, if that was possible at this point.  
    “I don't know what to call myself? I’ve always just been Nina!”  
    She looked at me, cocking her head again in the same, intense way. Then she stood, rising in her five-foot-glory, and stuck her arm out.  
    “I dub thee...Potassium.”  
    “What?”  
    “Potassium.” She slid down to rejoin me on the floor. “It’s your new name.”  
    “That’s weird”  
    “Yes. Yes it is.”  
    I slid my notebook out from behind me, and Chia nodded approvingly as I wrote ‘Potassium’ on the cover.  
    “Why Potassium?”  
    “Because…” She pointed at the sweater I was wearing, a pale yellow hoodie I’ve had for years. “You looks like a banana.”  
    When I heard that, I couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t laugh. She just smiled.  
    “C’mon.” She stood up, and readjusted her tank top.” You’ve gotta meet the others.”  
    “The others?” I stood up, tucking my pen and the cigarettes into my pocket.  
    “Yeah. They all… We all hand out downstairs in the well, I’ll just show ya!” She grabbed and…  
    The nurse just came in and it’s time for bed. I’ll wake up tomorrow and finish writing.


	4. May 10th 2017, 9:30  PM

    I’m back now. Now up in my perch anymore. Back in my room. And the CRAZIEST thing just happened.   
    So there I was, up on the 16th floor, freaking the fuck out cuz I thought some doctor coming up and I’d be caught in the Act. But then the stairwell door opens, and this little girl pops out. No. Not little. Short. I find out later she’s my age, but we’re not there yet.   
    The girl stops at the end of the hallway and stairs at me. I stare back at her. Then her eyes stray to the cigarette in my hand. Quickly, I push that hand behind my back, putting the cigarette out on the sole of my shoe. She tilts her head at me, but doesn’t say anything. I avoid eye contact. After a solid minute of this, she speaks.   
    “So...Cystic Fibrosis?” I gasped.   
    “How did you know?”  
    “Stick around this place long enough, and you’ll learn to tell. “ She walked up to me, shoved her back against the wall, and slid down onto the floor besides me. “Besides, in my experience, it’s usually your type attempting suicide my nicotine.”  
    “Nicotine won’t kill you.”  
    “Nicotine won’t kill me , hun. You are a different story.” She was right. My lungs couldn’t take the added stress of smoking But hey, I’ll be gone sooner or later, right?  
    Smoking has always been double-edged sword for me. It relaxes me. Lets me calm down and chill out. I haven’t been smoking for so long. Not long enough for it to be irreversible. I could probably quit. My Doctors know, but my mom doesn’t. That’s the other edge of the sword. I go to such ridiculous lengths to keep my mom from knowing. I don’t think she could take it.   
    “Hello...helloo?” The girl said, waving her hand in front of my face. I must have zoned out.   
    “Hi… hi yes.” I shook my head and looked at her.   
    “Im Chia.” She stuck out her hand. “Like the pet, except I’m a person.”  
    “I’m Nina.” I stuck my hand out.  
    “That’s boring.”  
    “What”  
    “Your name. It’s boring. Get a better one.”  
    “I can’t. I don’t get to pick my name.”  
    “Here ya do.” She grinned at me, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “The doctors will all call you whatever you want, and the others don’t have to know what your name is. I won’t tell you, so you can pick.” She smiled at me even wider, if that was possible at this point.   
    “I dunno what to call myself? I’ve always just been Nina!”  
    She looked at me, cocking her head again in the same, intense way. Then she stood, rising in her five-foot-glory, and stuck her arm out.   
    “I dub thee...Potassium.”   
    “What?”  
    “Potassium.”She slid down to rejoin me on the floor. “It’s your new name.”   
    “That’s weird”  
    “Yes. Yes it is.”  
    I slid my notebook out from behind me, and Chia nodded approvingly as I wrote ‘Potassium’ on the cover.   
    “Why Potassium?”  
    “Because…” She pointed at the sweater I was wearing, a pale yellow hoodie I’ve had for years. “You looks like a banana.”  
    When I heard that, I couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t laugh. She just smiled.   
    “C’mon.” She stood up, and readjusted her tank top.” You’ve gotta meet the others.”  
    “The others?” I stood up, tucking my pen and the cigarettes into my pocket.   
    “Yeah. They all… We all hand out downstairs in the well, I’ll just show ya!” She grabbed and…   
    The nurse just came in and it’s time for bed. I’ll wake up tomorrow and finish writing.

May 11th, 2017  
    The food at Ocean Park hospital is MUCH better than the food at Sacred Heart. When Ms.Li walked in, she called me Potassium. I guess Chia told her already? She didn’t think much of it. Perhaps she is used to weird nicknames. Potassium isn’t even the weirdest. There’s one boy…  
    I should finish writing about yesterday first.   
    She pulled me down the staircase, so fast I almost fell several times. My complaints only seemed to speed her up, and she had this wild grin on her face the whole time. Six stories down she yanked me out of the exit and into a quiet hallway. She didn’t stop running.   
    “This is the surgical ward. We aren’t supposed to be here!”  
    “I know hon.”  
    “Also, don’t you have classes or something like that?” Chia rolled her eyes at me, and pulled me into a sharp left turn.   
    “Where are…” She pushed her finger to my lips. She looked at one door, at the end of the hall very deliberately, so I assumed that was where we were going. Quieter than she had been in the fifteen minutes I had known her( which was still fairly loud). She crept up to the door and knocked thrice.   
    The door swung open. Chia dashed inside and I cautiously followed.   
    A few teenagers sat around. There was very vulgar music plauing at a volume which made it seem significantly less vulgar. The kids were all pale and they all looked a little worse for wear.   
    “Who’s this?”  
    “Fresh Meat. Humans, meet Potassium.” Chia stumped into a beanbag chair and put her feet up on some boys lap.   
    “Introduce yourselves, humans.”  
    “ROLL CALL” Another girl jumped up. This one was tall and lean, and pale. She had brown hair down to her waist and a killer smile.   
    “Hello Potassium. I am a human. My human name is Catfish.”  
    “Why Catfish?”  
    “That’s what I do for fun.” I nodded.   
    “Interesting. And you?” I said, turning to the other boy on the beanbag.   
    “That’s Emo” She said as she raised a cigarette to her lips. “We call him that because he barely talks and only wears black.”  
    “Charmed, I’m sure. “ I shook his hand and looked around.”Who’s we?” I gestured to the tall boy in the back.   
    “Oh, that’s Legs.”The boy turned around. He was in a wheelchair. He didn’t have any legs, or at least i thought he didn’t. His legs were gone from the knees down. What gave him the appearance of being tallwas the fact that he was standing on the stubs of his on the seat of his wheelchair.   
    “Isn’t that offensive?”  
    “It’s not offensive if I’m not offended!” The boy smiled, and I could see he, also, was smiling. Besides Emo, they all seemed really happy. Legs jumped up, somehow, vaulting himself using his upper body. He flipped in the air and landed on his back on a beanbag,a few feet away.   
    “Holy Shit.” I laughed, and Legs raised his arms to the applause filling the room.   
    “ I do try.” Legs laughed. I smied at him.   
    “You guys seem really chill. “ I said.   
    “It’s all the weed. Keeps us nice and mellow.”said Catfish.  
    “Where do you even get weed! We’re in a hospital!”  
    “In California, girl. Walk outside. It’ll fall on you.” Chia laughed, and curled up in the center of he group. Then, she patted the ground next to her.   
    I sat there and talked with them for hours. I don’t even know how it happened. I NEVER talk to people that. It was just so easy with them. Because they understood. For the first time, somebody understood. And it was Brilliant.  


End file.
